Joël Matip

Job Joël André Matip (born 8 August 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Liverpool.

Born in Germany, he played for the Cameroon national football team.

Matip began his career with SC Weitmar 45 before joining VfL Bochum in 1997.

After three years in VfL Bochum's youth teams, Matip was scouted by Schalke 04 in July 2000.

Matip began his professional career with Schalke 04 in 2009, and was part of their teams that won the DFB-Pokal and DFL-Supercup in 2011.

Matip made his debut on 27 October 2009 in a Regionalliga West match against 1. FC Saarbrücken.

He made his Bundesliga debut for Schalke on 7 November 2009 against Bayern Munich, in which he scored the game-tying goal and was subsequently named man of the match.

After his successful introduction to the first team, Matip remained a regular starter for Schalke in defensive midfield for the remainder of the 2009–10 season, scoring two further goals against 1. FC Köln and Eintracht Frankfurt.

He played for them at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations and the FIFA World Cups of 2010 and 2014, before announcing his international retirement in 2015.

On 2 March 2010, Matip signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Schalke 04.

In the 2010–11 season, Matip made his UEFA Champions League debut as Schalke reached the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in the club's history.

On 5 April 2011, he scored his first Champions League goal in Schalke's 5–2 quarter final win against title holders Inter Milan at San Siro.

On 21 May 2011, Matip appeared as a 72nd-minute substitute in Schalke's 5–0 2011 DFB-Pokal Final win over MSV Duisburg at the Olympiastadion.

On 23 February 2013, Matip scored both goals as Schalke recorded an important 2–1 victory over Fortuna Düsseldorf, securing the club's second win in 12 games.

He totalled 258 competitive appearances and 23 goals before moving to Liverpool on a free transfer in 2016, where he won the UEFA Champions League in 2019, starting in the final.

On 15 February 2016, Matip announced signing a four-year pre-contract agreement to join Liverpool on a free transfer, following the expiration of his contract with Schalke.

He made his debut for Liverpool on 23 August 2016 in a 5–0 win against Burton Albion in the 2016–17 EFL Cup.

He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–2 Premier League win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on 29 October.

Matip was voted as Liverpool's Player of the Month for his performances in November.

Overall, Matip was considered as a key player to improving Liverpool's defence, which had received extreme criticism prior to the season, during the 2016–17 season.

Matip was withdrawn from the fixture against Manchester United on 15 January 2017, as Liverpool were yet to get full clarity from FIFA over his eligibility, and also as a result of the Cameroon Football Federation failing to confirm that Matip could therefore play club football during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

On 1 October 2017, Matip was criticised for his poor performance against Newcastle United, being deemed at fault for Newcastle's goal.

On 4 November, Matip scored his first goal of the 2017–18 season, scoring in a 4–1 win over West Ham United at the London Stadium.

On 27 January 2018, Matip scored an own goal in a 3–2 home defeat to West Bromwich Albion in the fourth round of the 2017–18 FA Cup.

On 31 March, during the match against Crystal Palace, Matip suffered a thigh injury.

On 3 April, Liverpool announced that he would have to undergo surgery to fix it, and that he will miss the rest of the season.

Matip suffered another muscle injury in July 2018 during a tour of the United States, but recovered to be named an unused substitute in a 2–0 away win over Crystal Palace on 20 August.

On 13 December, Matip suffered a broken collarbone after the 1–0 win against Napoli.

The injury saw him miss another six weeks of the season.

Despite the showing of interest by new Fulham manager Claudio Ranieri, Matip remained at Liverpool for the rest of the season, establishing himself in the starting eleven.

He also won the 2019 UEFA Super Cup and the 2019–20 Premier League.

Born and raised in Germany, Matip represented Cameroon at international level.

On 1 June 2019, Matip assisted Divock Origi's goal in the 87th minute of the 2019 Champions League final, which saw Liverpool defeat Tottenham Hotspur 2–0 to win the title.

On 4 August 2019, Matip scored Liverpool's goal in the 2019 FA Community Shield.

Liverpool lost the game 5–4 on penalties.

He scored his first goal of the Premier League season on 24 August, opening the scoring in a 3–1 home win over Arsenal.

On 18 October 2019, he signed a new contract with Liverpool until June 2024.

His 2019–20 season was plagued by injuries, and Joe Gomez quickly took his place as Jürgen Klopp's preferred centre-back to partner Virgil van Dijk.

His first injury occurred in a Premier League match on 20 October 2019 against rivals Manchester United.

He returned in late January 2020, making just one league start before the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.